Sunday, November 24, 2013

Traffic Fatalities are up over 20% in 2013 as Police Management phases out Traffic Cops

You may have seen Toronto Chief of Police Bill Blair is concerned of the number of traffic fatalities in Toronto in recent months, but little explanation is placed upon the reasons for the increase, and police management puts all the blame on the public.

The theory and reasoning behind police traffic enforcement is a simple one.

You put police officers on the streets to catch bad drivers, and you make the good drivers aware that the police are there and watching.

The drinking and driving RIDE program is the classic example. You put RIDE spot checks where good drivers see them, reminding them not to drink and drive and the police catch the drunk drivers.

RIDE Spot checks are usually done in clearly visible areas. It's not only about catching the bad drivers, it's also about having a visible presence and reminding the good people not to drink and drive.

The same holds true for every day traffic enforcement, to keep the roads safe.

When you remove police traffic enforcement, bad drivers run wild and the good drivers relax and make mistakes. Accidents happen, people get hurt, families destroyed...

Over the last 30 years the number of traffic police officers in
Toronto has dropped dramatically, reducing the influence of police presence and traffic enforcement
for driver safety in Toronto and the GTA.

As the roads and vehicles
became safer, traffic fatalities are still a still a major cause of
deaths in Toronto. Safer road designs are made, dramatic improvements in vehicle design and safety, new laws created, but the police have their agenda wrong and traffic fatalities are in the news again.

Over the last twenty years the Toronto police management have gradually removed traffic police officers from the streets of Toronto. There are various reasons for doing so and the Toronto Police do not fully realize the implications or maybe it's about the money. Traffic safety costs money, but whats the cost of a child's life.

In the 80's the Toronto Police had five traffic police stations spread throughout the city.

Each area of Toronto had it's own dedicated traffic unit, with
80 to 100 officers doing traffic enforcement, accident investigations
and looking for drinking and driving motorists.

Four to five hundred traffic cops going out doing traffic enforcement sends a clear message to drivers, drive safe and obey the traffic laws, and the bad drivers got caught.

As such traffic accidents and
fatalities during that time were much lower than they are in 2013 on a per capita/per vehicle basis.

It was during this
period in history that the successful RIDE program came into being
saving hundreds of lives over the years.

As the City of Toronto grows the police management are removing traffic officers

By 1996 the Toronto Police Service had closed all of the five traffic units.

The police took the officers from these units and replaced them with just twelve (12) traffic officers in
each division, while reducing their dedicated traffic unit in downtown Toronto to less than seventy (70) officers.

From 1996 to 2013 traffic officers in each division has dwindled from twelve (12) officers to just two (2) traffic cops per division, the number of traffic officers in the main Traffic Services Unit sits around one hundred officers.

2014 means Less Traffic Cops Higher Fatalities

In 2014 the Toronto Police Service is looking to further reduce traffic enforcement.

Starting
in 2014 the Toronto Police management is taking all of the traffic
officers out of the divisions and sending them to the downtown Toronto Traffic Services Unit. Something
they did twenty years ago and learned didn't work.

History repeats itself, but the fallout is, that when the police stop looking and watching drivers, fatalities increase as we are seeing now.

As governments do, and certainly as it is in the Toronto Police Service, change is constant. The Toronto Police are constantly changing things, not always for the better and sometimes going in a
circle or the wrong direction.

New managers e.g. new police supervisors look to make their
"mark" by developing "new programs", to save money but at what cost to the people of Toronto?

The current "new
thing" to remove and reduce traffic officers and traffic enforcement out of each of the local divisions
and concentrate them in downtown Toronto means less officers working outside of the city core of downtown Toronto.

The result of all this is traffic fatalities are going to continue to rise. Toronto Police need to get back the basics using the tried and true formula that when a driver sees a police car they usually slow down and pay strict attention to driving carefully and properly.

Chris Conway is a former Police officer in Ontario having worked with the Toronto Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police for 28 years as a traffic officer, street cop, breathalyzer technician and Detective. Chris is the owner of OTT Legal and writes about traffic ticket and motor vehicle law in Ontario

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

As a former Traffic Cop who now fights speeding tickets many times people ask me is there some trick to radar or laser or is there some special way to beat these traffic tickets at court?

Although there are lots of ways to fight your speeding ticket with OTT Legal probably the best way is to not get the ticket in the first place. So here is my top ten ways to avoid a speeding ticket.

1. Don't Speed, yes its obvious but if you set in your mind a mental picture to follow the speed limit you avoid getting the ticket in the first place. Be cognizant about what the speed limit is. If you don't see a sign then in the city the speed limit is always 50 and in the country it's 80km/h.

2. Avoid being the lead vehicle. The police target the traffic coming towards them. If you're the first car and you're speeding, you're the person that's going to get stopped first. If you know you're speeding try to get another faster car in front of you, so that they get stopped not you.

3. Stay out of the passing lane. Many times the police target the passing lane because that's where the faster vehicles are driving. Try to stay in the curb lane as much as possible. If your on the highway many times the police just target the fast lane, because its dangerous for them to go across lanes trying to get you stopped.

4. Look ahead. If you look down the road sometimes you can see the police car before the officer can target you with the radar gun. Typically the police are targeting vehicles around the 300 metre mark. If you see a police vehicle on the roadway slow down well before you reach it.

5. Slow down going over or down hills. The police like hills, because you have to either push on the gas going up the hill or the vehicle naturally accelerates going down. Also you can't always see a police vehicle stopped behind hill, slow down at hills.

6. Watch the Ramps. While traveling on the highways watch as you come up to ramps. The police like to sit on the ramps because it gives them a higher elevation to look down onto the highway and its a safe spot to sit.

The down side for the officer is that most of the time the radar or laser can only look forward or ahead of the police car. You have to pass the police car or ramp before the officer can target your vehicle.

As you drive down the highway watch the ramps for police vehicles and you should be able to slow down before the officer can catch you speeding.

7. Use your cruise control. If you set the cruise control at or near the limit you avoid going over the speed limit inadvertently.

8. Go no more than 10 or 15 kilometres over the limit.

Although not always the case most police officers set a buffer of about 15 to 20 as an acceptable amount over the speed limit. After going past this you leave yourself open to being caught.

9. Once your stopped for speeding, if you can get out and speak with the officer.

The more you talk to the officer and explain what happened or if you have an excuse or story to tell, the higher the chance that the officer will let you off with a warning. If you say nothing then for sure you will receive the ticket. Although some officers will not even want you to get out of the vehicle, if you can talk to the officer.

10. If you do talk to the officer, be polite and acknowledge that you were speeding. You will gain nothing by being rude or disrespectful to the officer.

If you do receive a speeding ticket give us a call at OTT Legal to fight your ticket to win!

Monday, January 2, 2012

The Province of Ontario is set to make fighting speeding tickets and traffic tickets even more difficult for Ontario drivers.

For anyone who has tried to fight a traffic ticket in the GTA they know that the province and municipalities go out of their way to frustrate motorists and to make fighting a traffic ticket difficult.

First they removed all the night court, so that you had to take a day off work, you have to pay and fight to find a parking spot and then stand for up to 2 hours at some courts to just hand in your ticket.

Toronto courts take up to a year to come to trial and the court room is packed, even most Toronto Prosecutors are frustrated with the traffic ticket system in Toronto.

Now the court are passing a new ruling this spring. The new ruling will mean that if you want to fight your traffic ticket you have to go and file or request a court date. To do so you have to file the ticket or speeding ticket at the court or jurisdiction that the police officer issued the ticket is from.

For example, say your from Toronto but you drive to Windsor, while in Windsor you receive a speeding ticket on a weekend.

The courts are closed in Windsor and throughout Ontario on the weekends, but you want to fight the speeding ticket. The new ruling will mean that you have to drive to Windsor, (where the ticket was issued) and personally hand in the ticket and request a trial date!

You used to be able to attend at any court in Ontario, (they are all on the same computer system) and hand in your ticket within 15 days of the offense. Not anymore...

Just another ongoing layer of frustration the traffic courts have added to the process of defending yourself in court.

The reasoning? Just to make it harder for you and to encourage you to pay the fine.

OTT Legal has offices and contacts throughout Ontario so that we can personally file your ticket at the court within the 15 day requirement. If you have any traffic tickets give OTT Legal a call.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Although no traffic ticket company wins every traffic ticket, OTT Legal wins thousands of traffic tickets and speeding tickets in Ontario. Our clients are great customers and send us mail, We will start posting our reviews of OTT Legal for everyone to view.

My trial date was on March 29. I was being charged of speeding 80 in a 60 zone and was facing demerit points plus a $95 fine. On Friday I received a letter in the mail from the service I hired, OTT legal. The cop showed up but OTT legal refuted the "evidence" I was cleared of all charges and fines. The ticket will be expunged from my record.

When I first met with all three services (OTT legal, X-Co, and G.I.R services), I found OTT legal to be the most professional which made me lean towards hiring them. They were also the cheapest, which helped, but that wasn't what made me finally hire them. What made my final decision was when I walked into the reception area of their Scarborough office, I saw on the table a huge album with literally hundreds of handwritten letters from clients thanking OTT legal for their help in winning their cases. I would highly recommend them.

401 east, Napanee Kingston area. Very straight Hwy speed limit is 100 officers will stop you for speeding 17km or more over the limit, Very strict about speed enforcement, many radar locations is this area. Watch speed closely.

401 near London to Windsor, many speed traps in this area, OPP officers are very experienced in using radar and laser. Police officer was killed in this area in 90's police and courts have strict enforcement of speeding. Watch speed closely.

Hwy 35, This is an 50 to 80 zone, speed limit goes up and down as you travel through many small towns. Police do mobile radar and wait for you to try to pass. When you accelerate to pass officers are stopping for speeding. Well trained OPP officers in this area, courts are very strict. OTT Legal has office in this area with good reviews for speeding tickets.